


Picture Day

by TimidMarshmallow



Category: Final Fantasy XV
Genre: Flashback Story, The cashier just wants to go home, school picture stress
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-11-10
Updated: 2019-11-10
Packaged: 2021-01-26 22:55:43
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,253
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21381961
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TimidMarshmallow/pseuds/TimidMarshmallow
Summary: Professional pictures and selfies are two totally different things.
Kudos: 23





	Picture Day

“That’ll be fifty gil.”

Ignis opened his wallet to retrieve the funds. As he handed it to the cashier, Noctis noticed something familiar peeking out of the folds. “You still have that?” 

Prompto, who was waiting behind both of his friends for his turn to purchase supplies, tried to look at whatever Noctis was talking about. “Still have what?”

“Can you wait to interrogate Ignis until after we’re done shopping?” Gladio didn’t want to be in the store all day. 

“Patience is a virtue, one we apparently still need to practice. And yes, Noct, I still have it.” Ignis moved out of the way after his transaction was complete. Prompto was still craning to see. “Have what?”

“High school photographs. Noct’s and yours, to be precise.” Ignis opened the wallet again to display which ones he meant. Prompto groaned. “I remember that day. That was the worst picture day ever.” 

“Isn’t everyday picture day with you?” Noctis was finishing up his purchase, and the cashier was not so subtly trying to rush them along. It was almost closing time, and he didn’t want to stay here listening to the strangers’ past. The blond denied the claim. “No, school pictures are different and that one-“

“Wait, why do you have pictures of them in your wallet? Iggy, you do know you’re not their mom, right?” Gladio interrupted the beginning of Prompto’s story. Ignis scoffed. “Of course I’m not their mother! Noct gave them to me back in high school, and I have carried the gift ever since.” 

“Okay, I get having a school photo of Prince Charmless, but why do you have Prompto’s?” 

“Yeah, why do you have the worst photo ever?” 

“I gave it to him too. And it wasn’t that bad, stop whining.” Noctis shrugged. “Why do you hate it so much?”

“Well, for starters, I woke up super early to get ready…”

~0~

“RiDe My CHoOOcoBOooooo…… all daaayayay, yeah!” Prompto turned off the running water and reached for his towel. “What time is it?” 

Stepping out of the tub, he hurriedly brushed his teeth while wearing the drying cloth as a toga. Done with the now sparkly whites, Prompto went to put some actual clothes on. His uniform pants, shirt, blazer, and tie lay on the hanger in the same pristine manner that he had obsessed over yesterday. Carefully putting the trousers on and finding a clean tank top didn’t take long, so he went to the kitchen to grab breakfast. He’d put the shirt and everything else on afterwards. 

Eating some toast with one hand and using the hairdryer with the other was a total life hack! Prompto used his clever technique to shave a whole five minutes off of his prep time. He rushed back to the bathroom when he was done so he could get rid of breadcrumbs and actually style his floofy blond cloud. When the only spots left were his freckles and his hair was brushed to perfection he finished getting dressed. Even his socks were blindingly white today, not that it mattered. The camera wouldn’t be capturing his entire frame. 

Clean, fed, and dressed to the nines… maybe only to the sevens… school clothes weren’t exactly high fashion, to be fair. Aw crap, his stupid musing completely made him miss the fact that it had rained last night. Rain created a very big problem. 

Puddles. 

Luckily he had left the house with enough time to navigate the street’s lakes and rivers. Prompto carefully tiptoed around the deep ones and through the really shallow ones. Only the very bottoms of his shoes suffered. 

He was a block away from the school when it happened. While waiting to cross the street a car drove past him and its wheel dipped into a pond. The water splashed all over his pants. He tried to tell himself it would be okay, the camera wasn’t going to take a picture of his pants. That was a good thought for two seconds, but then it soaked through to his underwear. There was no way he’d be able to go the whole day with wet bottoms. He turned and ran back home, but not fast enough to get all sweaty. 

He wasted no time changing into his spare (and dry) underpants, outerpants, and socks. He’d have to break dress code and wear different shoes now. 

Prompto was just about to leave when his phone buzzed. A text from Noct this early? “‘I’ll pick you up.’ Phew! Won’t have to swim back to school. Ah, ‘thanks bro and tell iggy i said thanks too’.”

“‘Tell him yourself.’ Oh, Noct.” Prompto made sure he had everything and went outside to wait for his best friend’s arrival. The sleek black car didn’t take long, and Ignis unlocked the door when he slowed to a stop. “Good morning, Prompto. It’s a pleasant surprise that you’re up and ready this early. All on your own, too.” He either didn’t notice or chose not to mention the shoes that totally didn’t match the outfit.

Noctis rolled his eyes as Prompto slid into his seat. “Yeah, yeah. Specs is mad I didn’t get up at the crack of dawn to do my hair.” 

“Oh, yeah. Pshtff, who gets up that early to fix their hair?” Prompto elbowed Noctis, who laughed. “Obviously you, nerd. It’s picture day. What’s the big deal?” 

“Sorry, not all of us have had to sit for royal portraits. Us plebes have to rely on yearbooks to remember how dorky we looked in school.” 

“No, I meant shouldn’t you be used to pictures? That’s all you do. You could just hand them one of your selfies and not even go today.” Noctis was just messing with his friend, the school probably wouldn’t allow that. Ignis confirmed. “I’m not sure a selfie is permitted for the photo identification cards they issue you.” 

“It’s different because I’m not the one taking the picture. It’s hard to explain.” Prompto always got like this when picture day came around. They chose the worst angles, terrible lighting… For professional photographers, they never did him any justice. 

-o-

To make matters worse, their grade was the last group scheduled. He’d have to make it until after lunch, and the day already seemed determined to sully his perfect grooming. 

He borrowed a pen from the classmate next to him and it leaked all over his hands. When he went to the bathroom to wash it off, a teacher knocked into him when he came out. Of course, because of course, they happened to be carrying coffee on their way back to class. Pure black coffee, no cream, two sugars. Luckily it wasn’t fresh, so it wasn’t painfully hot. “I am so sorry, did your class already take pictures?” 

“No…” 

“Shoot! Okay, uh, the home economics teacher should have the washing machines on. Let’s see if that helps. Whose class are you in, I’ll call them so you don’t get in trouble.” 

Prompto provided the information. He could tell the teacher was genuinely sorry, so he couldn’t really be too mad. It was an accident. Maybe he could request a headshot instead of a full bust shot? 

Thank goodness he had worn a tank top today. As his poor doomed shirt and tie spun in the wash he texted Noct. ‘My blazer is still okay. For now.’

‘Wow, it’s like you’re two years old. Can’t stay clean.’ 

‘Not funny.’

The teacher pulled his top out of the machine. “It’s faded, but you can still see it.” She put it into the dryer and when it was done she tried to button Prompto’s blazer just so to hide the stains. His tie wasn’t salvageable. “Thank you, ma’am.”

“I am so sorry. Come, I’ll walk you back to class.”

-o-

“At least your hair is still okay.” Noct put his milk carton down. They had made it to lunch and thankfully nothing else had happened to further mess up Prompto’s appearance. “Noct! You just jinxed it! ...I packed a brush just in case.”

“Haha, of course you did. You just have to make it another half hour.” Noctis slouched against the table, not caring that he was wrinkling his blazer. He just wasn’t as worried about the outcome of his photo the way his best friend was. 

Prompto ate slowly, carefully, the same way they’d see the elderly eating when they went out to restaurants: back hunched so he was over the tray and spoon shakily delivering food to his mouth. Noctis didn’t tell him about the mental comparison he’d just noticed, not wanting to further stress Prompto out. The poor kid just wanted to look nice for his photo. 

Finally finished, and with a whole two minutes to spare, Prompto stood to take his tray to the front of the cafeteria. “Here, Noct, I’ll take yours today.” 

“Thanks.” Noctis moved the trash over so Prompto could balance everything. He carried their waste away from the table, through classmates, and around the random spills on the floor. He walked back after depositing the trays. After passing a table of underclassmen he suddenly felt a wet splatter on his back. 

“I am SO sorry! Oh my gosh, let me get you a napkin! I’m sorry!” A younger girl was now at his back, scrubbing at the wet blazer with a cheap paper napkin. All she was doing was causing clumps of the weak product to pill on his clothing. “I couldn’t get my juice open and I don’t know how I managed to make it splash up like that and I’m sorry!” 

Prompto sagged. All of the clothes that would be within camera range had some sort of stain of spill on it. “It’s okay, haha, you didn’t do it on purpose.” Prompto walked back to the table after assuring the random schoolmate that he wasn’t mad at her at all. 

Noctis shook his head at the sight of his disaster’s return. “At least your hair is still good.”

“Yeah. I still have my brush, too.” Prompto pulled it out of his bookbag to draw some comfort from the fact that he could fix his hair when something INEVITABLY happened. A group of students walked past their table, and of course somebody’s elbow knocked the brush Prompto was holding aloft. The styling tool clattered to the floor and was unknowingly kicked further from the dismayed owner. Somebody stepped on it too, because that’s how this day had been going. A few of the bristles snapped. 

Prompto just covered his face with his hands and let out a weary, frustrated sigh. Noctis pulled his phone out, he had to do something. 

“Ignis? Can you do me a favor? Could you please bring- No, I’m still ‘presentable’, it’s not for me.” 

Prompto peeked out of his hands. Was Noct really calling Ignis from school?! 

“Yeah, the whole thing. It’ll fit. And a comb, too. Thank you.” Noctis hung up. “Come on, let’s go wait for him at the front office.” 

Prompto followed his friend to the front of the school. Their class would be going to the photographers now, so they wouldn’t get in trouble for skipping. 

-o-

Ignis hummed, not yet pleased with the way the blazer hung off of the younger boy. Noctis just huffed. “Stop messing with it, he’s fine.”

Prompto stayed still. They were doing him a favor, after all. Plus, if he let Ignis do it then he’d look perfect. The advisor did everything right, at least it seemed that way. “Well, now you look presentable. The clothes are a tad large, but it’ll have to do.” Done fussing, Ignis let his hands drop to his sides. “You two had best hurry along.” 

“Yeah, if we miss the photos then Iggy would’ve wasted his time.” Noct patted his older friend’s shoulder. Ignis nodded and waved them away. “And you know how I loathe that.”

“Thanks, Ignis!” Prompto and Noctis rushed to where the photographers had set up camp. Luckily (the only luck Prompto’d had all day), they made it to the back of the line with no one noticing or commenting on their absence. Student by student they moved closer to the cameras. 

Noctis barely smiled for his photo. Prompto beamed for his, hoping a winning smile would cover up how anxious he was actually feeling about it. Professional photography was just so different from casual photography. Hopefully when he grew up and was an expert cameraman he’d be able to get rid of that difference in his handiwork. 

“Now we wait for the pictures to arrive. That wasn’t so bad, see?” Noct nudged Prompto’s arm. 

~0~

“And then the rest of the day went smoothly after that! It was like the astrals were just messing with me on purpose!!” Prompto waved his hands in front of him as he finished his tale. 

“You’re so dramatic.” Noctis shook his head. They had left the store and walked over to the caravan while they spoke. “Thanks for the bedtime story though.” 

“Anything we say to you after five o’ clock is a bedtime story.” Gladio crossed his arms. “Wanna see the pictures I keep in my wallet?” 

Ignis lifted an eyebrow. “Are they of family, or are they similar to the magazines you leave laying about?” 

“They’re of family.” 

Prompto walked over to see as Gladio pulled out his wallet. “Aw, is that Iris and Talcott?” 

“Yep. This is from the day we met him.” 

“Guess it’s your turn to tell a story, Big Guy.”


End file.
